Saturday, December 5, 2009

R51 vs Tokushima Vortis

FC Gifu 2 - 1 Tokushima Vortis (ht 0-1)

Gifu ended their J2 season on a high coming from behind to beat Tokushima 2-1 at a soggy Nagaragawa today. Tokushima have improved dramatically this year from being at the bottom of the table at the conclusion of 2008, to being 9th going into this game. In this game they had the best of the first half and were rewarded when they pounced on a Noda fumble to take a 1-0 lead into the half. It looked like Gifu were heading for another defeat but at half time something must of happens. Whether it was for the departing players, the departing manager, the 5000 fans that turned up in the round or just for themselves, the players came out in the second half and started to play with a bit of desire. Early in the second half Gifu equalised with Satou's 16th goal of the season. Then with about 15 minutes left Gifu took the lead when Akita pounced on a loose ball and knocked the ball past the keeper. Gifu then held on to keep themselves in 12th place at the end of the season.Although it was the last regular league game of the season, Gifu can't afford to relax and reflect on the season just yet as they have a HUGE match against Nagoya at Mizuho next sunday. A win in this game, and the financial rewards, could be the key to keeping the club alive after next year as the club is still in financial debt that it doesn't really look like getting out of.Sunday 13th vs Nagoya Grampus... be there!!!

5 comments:

Moderate season I'd say. The sheer amount of games is completely ridiculous, I sure hope the J-league will put an end to this nonsense next season with a normal schedule of playing twice against each team..

Anyway, good going for Gifu for their mid-table finish despite not possessing a broad squad or that much talent. Worrisome stories of financial problems behind the club are there as well, so I'm wondering what next season will bring.

Hey Richy! long time no see:) Too bad Gifu lost against Nagoya in the quarterfinal, but I think you can be happy with a decent season afterall, and another midplace-finish. Lets hope Gifu will pull enough money together to make it a go next year as well.

And congratulations with Vegalta! I know u like them as well, and they've had a fantastic season that can even get better if they beat Gamba in the semifinal. Imagine Vegalta in ACL next year....;)

Anyway, I added you to my msn, as I'm doing a J2-sum up for a scandinavian sports-site, and wondered if you would like to answer some questions for me!

Oh, and as you've probably noticed, my Cerezo-blog are pretty much left to die these days, as work restrictions makes it hard for me to post too much info about Cerezo and J2 there;)

Arne: Next year its down to home and away only with 19 teams. Unfortunately Im not sure how this will benefit a club like Gifu that relys on more games for income...

BTW That sign that you mentioned, I finally found out about it. It was written about a Dutch visitor to Gifu many many years ago who brought in new culture and techniques with him. I'll try and get his name for ya next year.. I forgot it!

Anon: Good table finish for sure. Moneys still looking like a problem but there hopefully won't be too many player changes this year. Hashimoto might be the key to Gifu's success next year.If Gifu play like they did this year, or even a bit better I think they'll have a good chance of staying around in the future but it ain't gonna be easy...

Nipponbasse: Miss your site mate! Congrats to Cereso too mate. I'm stoked that Sendai's finally made it up, and are now in the top 4 of the emperors cup!I'll answer your questions mate but Im don't use MSN much so send me a mail! Cheers.

Cheers guys!Gonna be another season to look forward to next year. See ya all there!